Friday, 07 May 2010
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Help! - 6 year old with Autism NOT eating
Hi there - my son is 6 and has had a diagnosis of PDD-NOS for about 18 months although it took almost 2 years to get to an 'official' diagnosis. He has many traits that are seen on the spectrum but we have seen huge improvements since he started school in inviting friends to play, taking turns and some focus on classroom activities. He is still prone to the meltdown but has learnt (through an excellent anxiety specialist) some strategies to quickly calm down. He is a book fanatic and would spend all day reading if he could. His reading ability is way ahead of his classmates but his comprehension of what he's reading isn't always there but tends to come after much mulling over. He is also a Thomas the Tank Engine fanatic.Toileting has improved but only recently with the guidance of a gastro specialist but we rarely have a day when he doesn't soil.
Eating is a our major nightmare currently. He ate everything put in front of him until about 2/2.5 then he gradually eliminated foods. Over time his diet has reduced to a handful of foods. He is on a barrage of supplements to replace the essentials vits & mins and a prescription drink with extra fat. Lately he has started eliminating yet more foods without replacing them. He is at the stage where his daily intake would be less than 500 calories. We have tried Feeding Clinics and all their strategies, rewards charts, hiding food (he cottoned on VERY quick to this), letting him choose a new food and spending a week at a time just looking, kissing, licking etc but when it came to 1 mouthful we had the most monumentous tantrum it was scary. I know all the advice suggests making it a non-issue etc but we have tried everything with not one ounce of success. His energy levels are so low it is affecting his behaviour continually.
What else can we try?? Has ANYONE any suggestions/advice/specialists to see - we feel like we've seen everyone but has anyone had success with alternative therapies? I am so worried and stressed by it all - I have no idea where to turn next. Anyone????
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- From: EmJane
Stats: This Week All Time Posts: 0 3 Views: 0 1252 Comments: 0 13 View all posts by EmJane
Comments (13)
Is there anything he will eat? What is it?
Figure out what he will eat and feed him lots of it even if it's chocolate covered hotdogs. Sometimes it's not food they are eliminating but colors they don't like or certain temperatures or textures. Not only children with autism do this two of my boys went through a period of doing the same thing. One refused to eat all bread products, one just didn't want to eat anything at all. You can't force a child to eat so what I did was figure out things they liked and made them available. Mine outgrew it but it wasn't easy finding a way through while still getting them the vitamins they need. Is he drinking ok? We bought a juicer and juiced just about everything imaginable for my son who didn't want to eat. We did rewards too. I don't envy you the food battles I hope you can figure out a way to get him what he needs to survive without the fights.
My little brother is 9 years old now and autistic. He would NEVER eat. What we did is put him in front of the TV with dry foods, such as cereal, etc. that couldn't be messy, and he was so captivated by the colors, even though he didn't always understand what he was watching, that he just ate without realizing it. Do I recommend this? Only as a last resort. He is now addicted to electronics, it's the only thing that will make him eat. he won't eat wet foods such as macaroni nor will he sit down to the table. But as a last resort, perhaps it would do the trick. Good luck!
I like the juicer idea. I wish I could just drink juice instead of eating food. I have a tough time with textures, temperatures, etc. I mostly just try to deal with it... Left too long to my own devices though, I won't eat.
Find partners www.GenerationRescue.org Rescue Angel www.TACANow.org Moms & Dads going through the same thing. After you have eliminated some of the physical things like tooth aches, stomach flus or other things with a pediatrician then find a DAN Doctor. Is on a GFCF Diet... I know this sounds weird to limit food but some food actually slows down our kids... and yes you will have tantrums as you eliminate almost the only food he has left to eat. We have gone days where everything and I mean everything has come back up. I promise you this will pass... We have seen it all from Blowing Rasberries in church, Hands down pants, & Taking off his clothes. Let me know if you find help at either site. Try to attend a www.AutismOne.org conference as well .... Lots to learn.
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He IS sensory - this we know because he eats crackers and biscuits and dry cereal. I have that many flavours of crackers in the cupboard I'm thinking of buying shares! He will eat choc spread or peanut butter on only. He eats ice cream and custard but I tried hiding some pureed fruit in the custard and he spotted it a mile off. Food that's supposed to be hot he will stop eating once it cools to a certain temp and it has to be reheated. He was eating hot chips (over or shop bought) but this has stopped this week as has toast. We do give him juice with all his supplements in but he refuses to drink it if he detects any change in the flavour. I'm happy continuing to give him what he will eat, my concern is the calorific value - it must be less than 500 day no matter how many biscuits i pump into him! He has good fluid intake.
We tried a GF diet but he refused the crackers AND the bread, leaving nothing else to give him. Most of the GF biscuits he wouldn't eat. I baked GF muffins with hidden veg in to no avail and up till a month ago he would eat home made muffins with hidden veg but he's stopped that too. GF was one of the first things I looked at when we got the diagnosis but given his fussiness it's been impossible to implement.
Does anyone here live in Australia and has had success with any clinic/specialist/paediatrician here? We live in Brisbane.
Thanks for all your comments - much appreciated as the battle continues :)
I am glad so many people are giving you suggestions and it sounds like you are a wonderful parent!
I am teacher for children with autism and I work on a residential team with nine 6-12 year olds. I have seen a handful of them resist eating or afraid to try new foods. I am not trying to give you a diagnosis or treatment, but I know with some of my kids, we have tried food exposure programs and we are constantly doing preference assessments. I don't know if your child is token trained, but we are constantly rewarding our children with reinforcers (foods they love/tv/computer/etc).
I also agree with tsh44, in that, make whatever your child loves to eat readily available. One child of ours in particular will only eat hot dogs, grilled cheese and cheetos. It's not healthy, but like you said, people need their calories to survive. Along with that, those who do not eat enough are usually given a drink like ensure to put on some weight.
I hope this helps and good luck!
My son has acid reflux, sensory problems, and oral motor problems to go with his autism. It makes eating VERY difficult for him. We take the pressure and the spotlight off the food part. We read books during meals, tell stories, play games, anything to take his mind off eating. Eating is NOT pleasurable for him. In fact, it's the opposite. It's hard work. I also make sure everything is cut up or shredded very finely. Makes it easier to chew.
Lots of luck - it's difficult!
@falling_pretty_star@xanga - oh yeah i def agree. token systems work well! give him what he likes, and move from there. i also work with kids who have ASD. it's fun, but it gets pretty serious. one of my clients is picky about eating, too. he'll eat a grilled cheese sandwhich at home, but not at school. or he'll eat only the bread, and he can eat like 10 slices if he wanted to. but of course we dont let him. he has to try a different food item before he can have access to another slice of bread.
i hope you find what you're looking for. ^_^
My son is allergic to everything under the sun So he already is too picky Now I am switching him to gluten free He will not he his favorite --pizza mac n cheese spaghetti When I was with my husband we tried the token system but things would happen that would make doing the things on the chart impossible Now we are having to adapt to being at my moms No rules or re enforcers it hard
@EmJane - we live in south brisbane and are having some success you can email me at liljessgray (at) hotmail (dot) com
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